Mary and Mr. Collins (THE LIBRARY message #2999)

Mary and Mr. Collins

REPLIES - POST REPLY - THE LIBRARY - FAQ - HOME - Q

Posted by Susanne on December 03, 1997 at 00:44:38:

In response to CM&E, written by Bob S. on December 02, 1997 at 13:12:02

] Perhaps Charlotte was added in altogether at such a later point of drafting because she doesn't seem to serve any other purpose in the narrative--e.g., if Mary had married Mr. Collins then Lizzy could have gone to visit her at Rosings (I forget the village/parsonage name).

]

] She could have gone to visit, but would she have? I didn't get the feeling that Mary was particularly close to any of her sisters, including Elizabeth. I don't think that Mary and Mr. Collins would have drawn Elizabeth to Hunsford nearly as quickly as Charlotte did (it was only 3 or 4 months after they were married). By the time Elizabeth would have gotten around to doing her "sisterly duty" to visit them (probably with Jane, I doubt that her mother, father, or younger sisters would have been interested in visiting her), Darcy probably would already have gotten over Elizabeth and might even have married someone else. :-(

] Bob S.

If Mary had married Mr. Collins, it would have solved the problem of the entailment, thus making the ending a little less "climactic." As Jane Austin wrote it, with Jane and Elizabeth marrying money, they also saved Longbourn. I think Charlotte served a purpose here in preventing Mr. Collins from marrying into the Bennet family, thus prolonging the suspense as to what would happen to them financially. Also, If Mr. Collins had been the brother-in-law, he would have been expected to help out with the Lydia problem, thus preventing Darcy from playing the "hero." Plotwise, I think Charlotte was a very necessary character.

REPLIES:

CM&L Bob S. 11:35:06 12/03/97 (0)

Posting followups to old messages is disabled; instead go to the main index and post a new message which mentions this one.